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What would you suggest for Education Reform?

Since Common Core has been such a hot topic lately, I'm curiouse what you all would suggest for education reform in the United States?

We are one of the only industrialized nations NOT to have reformed our educational system. China, Japan, Canda, Norway, etc. etc. all have had educational reform and I believe that is why they are beating us in international tests.

We can't keep educating our kids like they are going into a factory. We need tech-savy, creative, out-of-the-box thinkers. But, how do we do it? What are your ideas?

Where I grew up on the east coast, foreign language jobs were definitely abundant. However, in the midwest, not so much. They're available, but to a much lesser degree. The years of Chinese that was pushed onto my kids isn't getting anyone all that far out here. They can't read, speak, or write a lick of Chinese. LOL!

Now DS17 takes and speaks Spanish. His dad speaks it, so I'm not surprised that he picked it up fairly well.

Foreign language certainly has its place, but to require 2-3 high school credits for graudation seems a bit over the top. I believe that the courses should be offered, but to force kids who are barely passing English to pass another language in order to graduate seems like priorities are a little out of order.

Thanks for the differing point of view. I've lived where I am for so long, I forgot that in some places, multilingualism is more of an asset and not just a hobby. :)

Quoting cjsmom1:

I disagree. There are so many jobs I can't get because I only speak English and they only want bilingual people. Plus at my current job I use ASL.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

I almost forgot about the pushing of foreign languages. These kids are barely proficient at their own language and some school districts force them to obtain credits for other languages. Yeah, that makes sense. Not! LOL!

We're not all going to be world travelers or have business communications with people in other countries, so I think this forced "elective" (oxymoron, right?) should be dropped. Besides, many people who took a foreign language in high school can't read, speak, or write a lick of it. Such a waste of time. :(

Get rid of "public education". Get rid of tax percentages that go towards those schools.

Encourage communities to invest in, and create, their own "community schools" - where parents volunteer their time, pour their own money into the school, have a hand in hiring teachers, choosing curriculum, and take a more active role in the education of their children.

I am a Home Schooling, Vaccinating, Non spanking, Nightmare Cuddling, Dessert Giving, Bedtime Kissing, Book Reading, Stay at Home Mom. I believe in the benefit of organized after school activities and nosy, involved parents. I believe in spoiling my children. I believe that I have seen the village and I do not want it anywhere near my children. Now for the controversial stuff: we have traditional gender roles, we're Catholic, I'm Libertarian, he's Republican, we're both conservative, and we own guns (now there's no need to ask, lol). Aimee

I've seen Creole questioning about Common Core - I've never seen her assert a preference for it. She seems to want to know more about it.

Quoting romacox:

Do what has worked so well in the U.S. now and in the past. Home school outperforms public schools, and we once had the best education in the world. In both cases (like in Finland) the control is in the hands of teachers and parents....those who care most about the kids....not some bureaucrat who is more interested in money than the kids. Central planning does not work. It is legal theft.

Queen Creole 313, you have spent many hours trying to convince us that Common Core is a good thing, when the Attorneys at The Home School Legal Defense Association say otherwise. They rightfully carry a lot of credibility here. What is your investment in this pursuit? Why do you persist?

Quoting QueenCreole313:

So, do you think we should mimic Finland? Will that work in the US?

I am a Home Schooling, Vaccinating, Non spanking, Nightmare Cuddling, Dessert Giving, Bedtime Kissing, Book Reading, Stay at Home Mom. I believe in the benefit of organized after school activities and nosy, involved parents. I believe in spoiling my children. I believe that I have seen the village and I do not want it anywhere near my children. Now for the controversial stuff: we have traditional gender roles, we're Catholic, I'm Libertarian, he's Republican, we're both conservative, and we own guns (now there's no need to ask, lol). Aimee

Now that's thinking outside of the box! :) That's pretty much how homeschool co-ops work.

Who would help children whose parents can't, won't, or are wholly unqualified to participate in the community learning environment? In the current public school model, parents are already able to help to some degree, but many chose to ignore the needs of their own children let alone others. The district where I live has to beg parents to help and it still doesn't get a great response. Sad.

I know that some private schools require parents to volunteer a minimum number of hours. The homeschool co-op where my children were enrolled worked the same way, but they were dealing with willing parents, so it wasn't an issue.

Do the kids whose parents can't, won't, or shouldn't help in any way, shape or form be left behind? No pun intended. :) What about kids who live in bad neighborhoods? Would they be able to go attend another community's learning center? If so, how would they get there? Maybe someone else who is reading this can chime in and help us solve the question that was posed by the OP.

Who knows, maybe we could write a letter with some suggestions and send it to our respective state representatives.

Great discussion!

Quoting AutymsMommy:

Nobody will like my idea of education reform.

Get rid of "public education". Get rid of tax percentages that go towards those schools.

Encourage communities to invest in, and create, their own "community schools" - where parents volunteer their time, pour their own money into the school, have a hand in hiring teachers, choosing curriculum, and take a more active role in the education of their children.

In my experience with public schools, parents aren't encouraged in an applicable way to participate in their children's education - who can or will find a sitter for multiple younger children to come volunteer once a week for 30 minutes "monitoring" the lunchroom???

When dd went to the Catholic school, we either had to pay an additional fee, or volunteer a certain number of hours.

I think, that even in the worst of neighborhoods, there are parents who WOULD be invested in the education of the children in that community (as a whole). If a child wants to come to school, they would be able to - regardless of their indifferent parent; this would be offset by the larger number of community members who ARE invested in the community school.

Fundraising is a fantastic way to raise large amounts of money for lower income areas. Also, I do firmly believe (having seen it myself) that when approached, those with money to give usually do - they could petition "sponsors" for their schools.

Also, I wouldn't suggest that children from other areas could, automatically, attend school by and for different communities. I would, however, suggest that an interested child could petition to be allowed in the school. If they show an interest and desire to go to a school, because none exist in their community, it could only be a benefit. How would they get there? Split carpooling maybe. I would have no issue picking up a child in another neighborhood once a week.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

Now that's thinking outside of the box! :) That's pretty much how homeschool co-ops work.

Who would help children whose parents can't, won't, or are wholly unqualified to participate in the community learning environment? In the current public school model, parents are already able to help to some degree, but many chose to ignore the needs of their own children let alone others. The district where I live has to beg parents to help and it still doesn't get a great response. Sad.

I know that some private schools require parents to volunteer a minimum number of hours. The homeschool co-op where my children were enrolled worked the same way, but they were dealing with willing parents, so it wasn't an issue.

Do the kids whose parents can't, won't, or shouldn't help in any way, shape or form be left behind? No pun intended. :) What about kids who live in bad neighborhoods? Would they be able to go attend another community's learning center? If so, how would they get there? Maybe someone else who is reading this can chime in and help us solve the question that was posed by the OP.

Who knows, maybe we could write a letter with some suggestions and send it to our respective state representatives.

Great discussion!

Quoting AutymsMommy:

Nobody will like my idea of education reform.

Get rid of "public education". Get rid of tax percentages that go towards those schools.

Encourage communities to invest in, and create, their own "community schools" - where parents volunteer their time, pour their own money into the school, have a hand in hiring teachers, choosing curriculum, and take a more active role in the education of their children.

I am a Home Schooling, Vaccinating, Non spanking, Nightmare Cuddling, Dessert Giving, Bedtime Kissing, Book Reading, Stay at Home Mom. I believe in the benefit of organized after school activities and nosy, involved parents. I believe in spoiling my children. I believe that I have seen the village and I do not want it anywhere near my children. Now for the controversial stuff: we have traditional gender roles, we're Catholic, I'm Libertarian, he's Republican, we're both conservative, and we own guns (now there's no need to ask, lol). Aimee

We still have them here. We are zoned for an arts magnet; there is a science magnet not far from us.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

They had schools like this when I was in high school back in the day. My guess is that they've gotten rid of them due to budget cuts and No Child (teaching to the test) requirements.

Quoting QueenCreole313:

I do miss how there were specialized high schools: magnet for the academics, science and technology, arts and technical schools. Why did so many communities do any with them?

I am a Home Schooling, Vaccinating, Non spanking, Nightmare Cuddling, Dessert Giving, Bedtime Kissing, Book Reading, Stay at Home Mom. I believe in the benefit of organized after school activities and nosy, involved parents. I believe in spoiling my children. I believe that I have seen the village and I do not want it anywhere near my children. Now for the controversial stuff: we have traditional gender roles, we're Catholic, I'm Libertarian, he's Republican, we're both conservative, and we own guns (now there's no need to ask, lol). Aimee

In my experience with public schools, parents aren't encouraged in an applicable way to participate in their children's education - who can or will find a sitter for multiple younger children to come volunteer once a week for 30 minutes "monitoring" the lunchroom???

When dd went to the Catholic school, we either had to pay an additional fee, or volunteer a certain number of hours.

I think, that even in the worst of neighborhoods, there are parents who WOULD be invested in the education of the children in that community (as a whole). If a child wants to come to school, they would be able to - regardless of their indifferent parent; this would be offset by the larger number of community members who ARE invested in the community school.

Fundraising is a fantastic way to raise large amounts of money for lower income areas. Also, I do firmly believe (having seen it myself) that when approached, those with money to give usually do - they could petition "sponsors" for their schools.

Also, I wouldn't suggest that children from other areas could, automatically, attend school by and for different communities. I would, however, suggest that an interested child could petition to be allowed in the school. If they show an interest and desire to go to a school, because none exist in their community, it could only be a benefit. How would they get there? Split carpooling maybe. I would have no issue picking up a child in another neighborhood once a week.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

Now that's thinking outside of the box! :) That's pretty much how homeschool co-ops work.

Who would help children whose parents can't, won't, or are wholly unqualified to participate in the community learning environment? In the current public school model, parents are already able to help to some degree, but many chose to ignore the needs of their own children let alone others. The district where I live has to beg parents to help and it still doesn't get a great response. Sad.

I know that some private schools require parents to volunteer a minimum number of hours. The homeschool co-op where my children were enrolled worked the same way, but they were dealing with willing parents, so it wasn't an issue.

Do the kids whose parents can't, won't, or shouldn't help in any way, shape or form be left behind? No pun intended. :) What about kids who live in bad neighborhoods? Would they be able to go attend another community's learning center? If so, how would they get there? Maybe someone else who is reading this can chime in and help us solve the question that was posed by the OP.

Who knows, maybe we could write a letter with some suggestions and send it to our respective state representatives.

Great discussion!

Quoting AutymsMommy:

Nobody will like my idea of education reform.

Get rid of "public education". Get rid of tax percentages that go towards those schools.

Encourage communities to invest in, and create, their own "community schools" - where parents volunteer their time, pour their own money into the school, have a hand in hiring teachers, choosing curriculum, and take a more active role in the education of their children.

When my son was in public school i would often stop by the soend time, eat lunch, volunteer, etc. i quickly found out that the culture actually discourages parents from getting involved. They asked me not to come so much. I guess they did not want me to witness how many teachers were treating the students, etc.

You're right, kids shouldn't be forced to learn a second language until they've mastered English. After 4 years of Spanish I can't hold a conversation in Spanish, I didn't take it seriously and thought it was pointless.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

Where I grew up on the east coast, foreign language jobs were definitely abundant. However, in the midwest, not so much. They're available, but to a much lesser degree. The years of Chinese that was pushed onto my kids isn't getting anyone all that far out here. They can't read, speak, or write a lick of Chinese. LOL!

Now DS17 takes and speaks Spanish. His dad speaks it, so I'm not surprised that he picked it up fairly well.

Foreign language certainly has its place, but to require 2-3 high school credits for graudation seems a bit over the top. I believe that the courses should be offered, but to force kids who are barely passing English to pass another language in order to graduate seems like priorities are a little out of order.

Thanks for the differing point of view. I've lived where I am for so long, I forgot that in some places, multilingualism is more of an asset and not just a hobby. :)

Quoting cjsmom1:

I disagree. There are so many jobs I can't get because I only speak English and they only want bilingual people. Plus at my current job I use ASL.

Quoting WantedNameTaken:

I almost forgot about the pushing of foreign languages. These kids are barely proficient at their own language and some school districts force them to obtain credits for other languages. Yeah, that makes sense. Not! LOL!

We're not all going to be world travelers or have business communications with people in other countries, so I think this forced "elective" (oxymoron, right?) should be dropped. Besides, many people who took a foreign language in high school can't read, speak, or write a lick of it. Such a waste of time. :(

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.